Seven legislators from across the political spectrum flew to the Dongsha Islands (東沙群島, known as the Pratas Islands in English) in the South China Sea yesterday as part of efforts to highlight Taiwan’s sovereignty amid growing tensions in the disputed area.
The trip came on the heels of a visit late last month by several other lawmakers to Taiping Island (太平島), the main island of the Spratley Islands in the simmering region, for a similar purpose.
The latest trip was led by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Mark Chen (陳唐山), a co-convener of the legislature’s Foreign and National Defense Committee.
The other members of the group were DPP legislators Tsai Huang-liang (蔡煌瑯), Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) and Hsueh Ling (薛凌), as well as their Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) colleagues Chan Kai-chen (詹凱臣) and Chen Cheng-hsiang (陳鎮湘), and People First Party Legislator Chang Show-foong (張曉風).
Chang said prior to the group’s departure from Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) that she was very pleased to join the group on the tour of the Dongsha Islands, which are located about 450km off Taiwan’s southwestern coast.
“This is my first trip to Dongsha and I hope to look into the ecological and fishery protection measures in place there,” Chang said.
Tsai said the Dongsha and Taiping islands are Taiwanese sovereign territory.
“As tensions in the South China Sea have been escalating recently, we want to reassert our country’s claim to the region through our visit,” Tsai said, adding that the group would also help boost the morale of military and coast guard personnel stationed on the islands.
The South China Sea is seen as a flashpoint because Taiwan, China, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei claim all or part of the 3.5 million square kilometer area, which includes the Spratly, Paracel and Pratas islands, the Macclesfield Bank and the Scarborough Shoal.
A standoff between armed Chinese and Philippine vessels has continued since April 10 near the Scarborough Shoal, known as Huangyan Island (黃岩島) in Taiwan, over conflicting sovereignty claims.
Taiwan occupies Dongsha, the largest island in the South China Sea, as well as Taiping Island, the largest island in the Spratlys.
The Ministry of Transportation and Communications yesterday inaugurated the Danjiang Bridge across the Tamsui River in New Taipei City, saying that the structure would be an architectural icon and traffic artery for Taiwan. Feted as a major engineering achievement, the Danjiang Bridge is 920m long, 211m tall at the top of its pylon, and is the longest single-pylon asymmetric cable-stayed bridge in the world, the government’s Web site for the structure said. It was designed by late Iraqi-British architect Zaha Hadid. The structure, with a maximum deck of 70m, accommodates road and light rail traffic, and affords a 200m navigation channel for boats,
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest foundry service provider, yesterday said that global semiconductor revenue is projected to hit US$1.5 trillion in 2030, after the figure exceeds US$1 trillion this year, as artificial intelligence (AI) demand boosts consumption of token and compute power. “We are still at the beginning of the AI revolution, but we already see a significant impact across the whole semiconductor ecosystem,” TSMC deputy cochief operating officer Kevin Zhang (張曉強) said at the company’s annual technology symposium in Hsinchu City. “It is fair to say that in the past decade, smartphones and other mobile devices were
US-CHINA SUMMIT: MOFA welcomed US reassurance of no change in its Taiwan policy; Trump said he did not comment when Xi talked of opposing independence US President Donald Trump yesterday said he has not made a decision on whether to move forward with a major arms package for Taiwan after hearing concerns about it from Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平). Trump’s comments on Taiwan came as he flew back to Washington after wrapping up critical talks in which both leaders said important progress was made in stabilizing US-China relations even as deep differences persist between the world’s two biggest powers on Iran and Taiwan. “I will make a determination,” Trump said, adding: “I’ll be making decisions. But, you know, I think the last thing we need right
TAIWAN ISSUE: US treasury secretary Scott Bessent said on the first day of meetings that ‘it wouldn’t be a US-China summit without the Taiwan issue coming up’ There were no surprises on the first day of the summit between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday, as the government reiterated that cross-strait stability is crucial to the Asia-Pacific region, as well as the world. As the two presidents met for a highly anticipated summit yesterday, Chinese state media reported that Xi warned Trump that missteps regarding Taiwan could push their two countries into “conflict.” Trump arrived in China with accolades for his host, calling Xi a “great leader” and “friend,” and extending an invitation to visit the White House
RSS